"Our winter seasonal beer, Babayaga is a 7% export-strength woodland stout. We smoked some malt with rosemary, and added a few other embellishments. This beer is inspired by Eastern European folklore, by woodland, streams, cold dark nights and woodsmoke.

This was brewed at Westport, MA by Dann and Martha with help from our friends Adam and Br. Brian. The mash contained over 4000lb of malt (the biggest beer we've done) and there were also rye, oats and wheat in the grist. Fermented with a mix of English and Belgian yeast strains."

Reviews by troegaarden:

More User Reviews:

A 22oz bottle, bottled Nov2009. In a tulip glass the beer was a black color with a thick tan head that diminished fairly quickly. Mostly aa sweet chocolate aroma, but also a little bit of coffee. Chocolate dominated the taste, still that little bit of coffee. There was also a hint of licorice. A nice dry, smooth beer.

The beer is black with a dark tan head. The head is thick and fluffy with loads of small bubbles.

The aroma is roasted malts sweet and hints of coffee and a slight creaminess.

The taste is an American stout. The beer is very creamy at first with a smooth mouth. A slight bit of carbonation hits the top of the mouth. A roasted and creaminess linger and hints of roasted malts.... ehh at first the mouth feel was good enough to shadow the taste. nothing special about the favor average craft stout.

22 ounce bomber, with a cutsie paper tab over the cap, that lets me know it was "Bottled November 2009" Nice, fresh and tasty beer. Always interested in giving a new brew from hyper artisinal Pretty Things a try. Pours pretty darn near black, the head also is a quite dark shade of mocha. Head is of moderate height, and shows much better then average staying power, then turns to a thick film and collar and leaves slippery and sliding sheeting and ample ridges and ripples of lacing. The sniff emits healthy notes of vanilla, dark malt, raisins, and chocolate. Rich and flavorfull stout, more of the same flavors on the tongue and mouth. Smooth and comfortable mouthfeel. More then typical roastyness. After trying several of the other eclectic PT brews, I was unsure of what to expect from a "Sylvan Stout" (whatever that is) from them. What I got was a pretty straight ahead, hearty/robust/flavorful and underneath it all, tasty and enjoyable stout. Nice job and well worth giving this one a try.

The beer pours an inky black color with a light brown head. The aroma is fruity with some light smoke. The flavor is sweet fruit, sometimes dark fruit and sometimes other fruit such as cherries. The smoke is of medium strength. Medium-high carbonation and medium mouthfeel.

Babayaga opens to a coffee-and-cream aroma, tinged with touches of tobacco and ash, and bearing slight remnants of chocolate and black malt. Caramel, molasses, and brown sugar add a sweet boost, joined by small whiffs of fig, vanilla, anise, black licorice, and white pepper. There’s also a thin thread of grapefruit and pine from the hops, though in no way does this interfere with the stout aromas. The nose is balanced heavily toward black notes, but is as a whole nicely balanced, with enough sugars present to make things palatable; this is definitely a novice-friendly stout. The nose does want for a bit more oomph, however, the low 7% ABV not coming across here as watery, but as simply meeker than expected, and the beer suffers somewhat from a lack of uniqueness.

On the tongue, the initial flavors are largely black coffee, tobacco, and ash, but these are joined quickly by a strong sugary rush of caramel, and brown sugar, and tinges of fig. Slight hints of black licorice and vanilla lurk in the background. Hops provide a surprisingly present grapefruit and lemon presence, lending a medium-strength citrus undertone. Late in the mouthful, as the sugars die off, the beer’s ashy characteristics move to full throttle, and the final flavors are largely black malt and charred grains, which last into the aftertaste and linger on the tongue for a while. Mouthfeel is an unexpectedly watery medium-light to medium, and carbonation is medium to medium-high, fizzing on the tongue like soda water.

Overall, this is a nice stout, and again one of the more novice-friendly ones on the market (as opposed to, say, an ash bomb), but suffers from a lack of pizzazz. The flavors here are nice, but light, and the watery mouthfeel doesn’t help. The fact that the beer’s latter notes are almost exclusively ash seems to point to a general dearth of sugars (thus the low ABV), and so while the initial flavors are good, they lack staying power.

T- Very unique, in a good way. Roasted malts, earthy hops, and again there's some thing/ spice in here that gives this a distinctive flavor that I can not put my finger on, either I'm a bit congested or my palette is failing me, but none the less this tastes great.

M- A bit thin, but good carbonation for a stout.

D- This is a very good beer, not something I make a night out of but will definitely have again.

bottle from bierkraft, bottled in October 2011. A very pleasant drinking smouth. Silky mouthfeel, not thick like an IS. Black with enormous retained white bubbly head. Mild roast and anise on the nose. Great stout, with a bit of smoky head in the finish. Great drinkability.

All the parts are blended wonderfully and I am not aware of whether this is a beer skillfully crafted from only the traditional ingredients or a masterful mixing of herbs, etc. too. This one was worth waiting for, now where can I get another?

Poured a thin tan head on a pitch black body.The aroma is molasses, black licorice, coffee and roasted malt. Great blend.Taste is licorice sweet at first, warm alcohol and roasted malt middle, finishes with a mild lemon bitterness. Nice profile.The texture is thicker with a good fizz and overall moderate carbonation.Nicely done.

A: Almost pitch black with just a hint of light able to seep through at the bottom of the glass. The head retained quite well and sat at about an inch thick.

S: Hints of molasess and ginger. Not too much roastiness which was strange.

T: The ginger and spices are pretty prevalent, and it lacks the bitterness and roastiness that I am accustomed to in a stout. There is a toffee in the flavor and a strange chocolate flavor, but the spices turn me off a little. As it warmed up though it got a bit smokier which I greatly enjoyed

M: A bit thin for a stout. The flavors are pretty rich but spice heavy. There is no roughness though.

D: It is a nice beer to try, especially if you are in the mood for something a little different. It is a bit more of a winter warmer in my opinion and worth trying once, but this is not my favorite from Pretty things